Cross Effects 3.0 - June 23, 2016—April 02, 2018

[Aiden]

Gadreel

The sensation behind him was all too familiar, and yet escaped the comprehension of the exile's current mind. Lesser in power and stature, yet still too magnificent for words. Turning his head to see it once his eyes grew back in merely required him to push more of his precious essence into them to keep them from boiling away yet again. To behold her from such proximity, to know the touch of the Rider upon his profane flesh, was nearly too much for him.

This is what should have been the Revelation.

And yet, he had seen more. And yet, there was still more to see. And yet, he held to the knowledge in his heart that though he envied this splendor that his own was but a ray of, he had given that up and would gladly do so again. He clutched at the hand that harmed him for but a moment, and then let that glory go.

As always, he was not the hero of this story. Gadreel of the Watchers stood aside at her dismissal, and watched.

[yinsukin]

Medaka

Medaka perked her head up for a moment as Shinobu signaled them to move. She allowed herself to be strung along, laughing as the elder vampire passed on advice. "I shall keep that in mind."

With that, the two walked to the mall.


The two vampire's stood inside a costume store, one that was having a clearance sale.  Medaka had dragged Shinobu into the store after seeing a cute body suit on display.  With boundless energy, she eagerly searched one of the display dressers for suits.  She grabbed a cute full body dog suit and a sexy cat bra and underwear set, complete with cat ears.

"You know, you did promise."  She said, displaying the suits with a grin.  "However, I can give you a choice. We can go on the cuter side or the sexy side.  Either way, you owe me.  As consultation, you can dress me up as well."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Conquest

Posturing was shallow. It did not matter if the skeleton stood or bowed. The difference was meaningless. Her head turned to face him and looked. And in that moment it was if he had been judged and sentenced all at once. Then she spoke, and her voice was no louder than before yet had all the force of a thunderclap. "No."

Then she looked straight ahead. Not at nothingness or even the city, but in her mind's eye she viewed all of Creation. From the heights of heaven to the depths of hell. "My greed is insatiable. I do not care for rocks and material. I desire humanity itself. I will be all things to all men."

And she looked back at him, and the oppressive force from before swelled to a flood. Like the eye of God looking down on Man. "You are naught but a mere bauble. Your hunger is great, but you squander it. A starving mutt sniffing at crumbs. Find a feast worthy of your emptiness, pursue it, let that hunger become your weapon, and return to me. Perhaps then I will adorn myself with you."

With a casual, commanding wave of her hand the pillars of light vanished.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

Lorenzo could feel his heart throb at her refusal, so merciless, so cruel yet so… sublime! To think a man like him would be able to stare at the sun, to feel so close to God. His heart, his body, his soul all yearned for that belonging, to be held and cradled by her glory. If she could only whisper his name, would it be enough?

No. It would never be. Because Lorenzo Remei was a man who could never be satisfied. To hold everything, to taste everything, to touch everything, to love everything. That was the only way a man could live.

The only way he could live.

He nodded in acquiescence, admitting defeat. She was too beautiful, too grand, too high for his meager hands. A God could never be held by a human, it was something he did not- would never have.

He’d simply need to become stronger, to surpass the word of God.

“Very well.” He said, but in his heart he could never accept. Never again, do not make a mockery of a pirate’s craving little girl. I will show you just how far God can fall, reach for me from the depths of hell.

The fires drowning the alleyway receded, until there were only dying blazes and cinders. He turned towards his fallen foe, walked towards him and offered a skeletal hand.

“That was pretty cool. You alright?”

[Break]

Coppelius
"Well, well, if that is so,i'll just have to do it wo'nt I?"
Getting bored if the act, Coppelius sat down on a decorative chair, blending in like the merchandise next to him.

"So what are the details for this.. errand?"

[Aiden]

Gadreel

The fires had gone out now. His shoulder and hand were the most damaged from contact with That-Which-Was-and-Shall-Be-Lucy, but the rest of Gadreel's body was otherwise pulling itself together. His severed arm had recovered its skeletal framework, and now was beginning the process of restoring his muscle and flesh. His face was covered in dried out blood from his boiled eyes, but he could see once more. Even his hair would soon return. His clothing was a loss. It was of no great concern.

Yes, the hair color was natural. You could see for yourself.

He accepted the skeleton's hand, briefly. "Yes, I will recover. Pain is an old friend. Perhaps next time we fight it will be without a captive audience." His voice was hoarse as his throat was one of the less important places to focus his energies for healing. "For now, farewell."

He moved, with a diminishing limp, to face the woman he had fought for this time.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

If he had any eyes, Lorenzo would've rolled them right now. Without much mind for it, he removed the tattered coat from his skeletal body and tossed it on Gadreel's body. If anything must be said about it, it's that it resisted fire quite well.

"Here, take this. Need it more than I do." He said flatly, but with teasing mischief to his voice. If you lose, do it honorably. If you win, do it with a bad attitude. These two had always been his principles.

"Well, see ya. And don't die on me! You both still owe me a drink." He said to them both, walking away with a lazy wave, not even bothering to look back. He had nowhere to go, nor did he know where he should go. For now, his destination was simply the same as it had always been.

Forward.

[Elf]

Rin

"Well, since you sort of drug me here, you'd better provide, Joe," Rin said before taking her seat.

She looked around the water with a tilt of her head, hoping that he did know how to pilot a boat.

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

“Simply put, your goal is the abduction of individuals with supernatural abilities.”  The puppeteer stated simply.  His voice died down, shifting to a more business like tone.  “You are to go to the hospital and abduct several of those things.  Then, you will leave several explosives there.  However, do not bring them back here.  If you manage to finish the first segment of your mission, I shall prepare a sort of rendezvous point.” 

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

To think that puppeteer would be so arrogant, that he would give him a mere recon task while handing this business to a puppet. It was so ridiculous he had to smirk, the notion of staying in this circus any longer was too laughable. But if he trusted him so, surely there had to be something intriguing behind that veneer of scraps and garbage.

He walked past Relius and Coppelius, but just as he walked aside the puppet his eyes turned back to gaze at him mockingly.

"Fake."

The warrior purred so in the doll's ear as if despising it, but all it took was another step for him to disappear.

[SINIB]

Jin

Sweet berries, of course something like that. Because who uses sugar? "Food from my homeland? I kinda just ate whenever I had time, So I don't really have that many favourites." He answered her as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "The just kept sending me around and that was when I wasn't drowning in work. Being here is like a vacation in comparison to that."

Oka Kurosawa

Oka nodded and wrapped herself around his arm. She felt like snuggling him for a bit, then maybe she'd go out and get some work done. Mhmm. That seemed like a good plan to her. "I should cook up some food from my homeworld then. I'm sure you'd like some of the food we had there."

The girl leaned her cheek upon Jin's and nuzzled him. She couldn't imagine a happier life than the one she had now.

[Aiden]

Petra

No way she could sneak around with a guy screaming after he got hit by a baseball bat. Oh well. The darkness worked both to her advantage and disadvantage. She had to rely on her ears, but they were in same boat. Shock tactics would work here well. Grasping the shotgun as a makeshift club, she swinged it around in an arc trying to smash gangers with the butt of her weapon.

Liam

They weren't expecting it, and quite a few were being knocked down by the time they had an idea just where their attackers were. It got worse when Liam, completely unaffected by the dark, started aiming for more legs with his bat. The screams and cursing increased, kitchenware was knocked about and smashed on the floor, and for all intents and purposes it would probably get passed off as one big domestic abuse scenario by the neighbors.

One of them got a lucky stab in the dark on the vampire, who shrugged off the kitchen knife in his side while knocking the poor fella unconscious with a good backhand. He was gonna have to get his suit coat fixed...

Even Petra got hit with a few lucky ones, fists or clubs smacking into her in the dark from a lack of room to maneuver and not being able to see much. It was a spot of bad luck: they'd walked right into a poker game.

[YOLF]

Malcolm Kimberlee

"Suuuuuuuure." He yawned, almost as if he didn't believe him at all. Even from a blood and piss stained bed, it almost looked like he was looking down on the crazy detective, as if he was just humoring a silly kid's fantasy.

Suddenly, he blinked flatly just as he remembered something.

"Um, how am I supposed to sign it?"

Henry Barthow

If you needed his help to live your life free of the wounds left by no fault of your own, then accept that your weakness is exposed, you half-assed posturing layman. Mindless or gullible were crushed by the gears all the same, and whether they were the skeleton of an conscienceless demiurge or an insane world, the cold teeth of causality were indiscriminate in making the unquantifiable tragedies that were found everywhere as common as life itself. It was purely cruel chance which determined that you would be the their target, and nothing that existed could turn them back. Except for the things that could, despite their price and lack of heart.

Malcolm had one of those in front of him. He could walk away from his personal tragedy, which countless sufferers would never have the chance to do, and he did not doubt the idea - he toyed with it. It did not matter to the demon that he was a crook or an idiot. Don't be foolish. Don't even pretend you would throw away this chance.

With the countenance of a weathered saint, the detective pulled up his chair to Malcom's bedside and the man's lifeless hand to the contract upon the table there. The pen was left on his hand, his shaking fingers made to wrap around it.

"A scribble will do, if you can't write your name proper. But be genuine."

[Aiden]

Muramasa Katase

The sky grew darker. The towering buffoon and the staff-wielding killer found their pointless duel interrupted by such a small thing. The demon sword would have killed them both in their distraction, but her own opponent had yet to surface. The urge to kill churned through the maelstrom of victims that gave form to her mind. Katase's shell trembled in frustration inside her armor.

face me and die already!

But the dragon continued to hide from Muramasa Katase. Soon she had no palatable choice but to make her way from the battlefield, unsatisfied. The blade would have to content herself with the four she killed already, she conceded as she began walking away through the rubble.

I hate this city.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

Insert epic Cruise Music that's Totally Blasting at Full Volume

Lorenzo sailed his thrusty ship he stole from a group of halo wieners or something, something about a treasure in a casino underwater and a chip to open it. Apparently there was a dam back in the day, and some sort of inauguration for a Starside Casino, but they all drowned after the dam broke. Tragic, really, but not for long! As if he'd let anyone get their hands on the gold, weapons and um, whatever else was waiting for him. With this wealth, he could start anew.

Begin again, huh?

Bah, it didn't matter. He did his homework and knew where to find it, that part was easy. The hard part was apparently... letting go. Whatever that was supposed to mean. All he'd need was a sucker who would swim underwater and fetch it for him. If he could find a dependable lad, he'd become filthy rich, and powerful! The ladies would worship him, and so would Lucy. That aside, he also had to pay his landlord back, if he didn't manage before nightfall he'd get an earful.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! THE TREASURE IS MINE!!!!!" He roared, raising his fist in the air and roaring maniacally. But suddenly, something dreadful happened. Without his knowledge, the birds in his crew, hungry for some succulent energy, were digging around the machinery he had no idea how to operate. Perhaps throwing the pilot abroad wasn't such a great idea.

The ship shook, and there was an explosion from behind him. Crap, what now! Uh?

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ? ? ? ? ? ?" He cried out, jumping back in terror. The ship, it was s-s-sinking! The water, water was spilling and erupting all over the place, if it touched him... he'd be a goner.

Calm down, relax. It's just water, it can't hurt you, just breathe. There is no problem that can't be fixed by burning it away, surely water is the same! He thought, wishfully thinking that pouring enough flames at the flooding water would make it evaporate, keeping the ship from sinking. In fact, it just made the ship catch on fire.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!"